By modern jazz styles Pg Music often means smooth jazz. That's ok, but consider this. Bass players after 1970 don't walk all over the chorus any longer. They switch between walking and octaves and small higher octave melodies. The feel is much more free and sustained notes alternate with eigth notes and so on. Same for drums. I long for drum styles that play different ride patterns than the same old stuff. Sorry, but nobody plays standards in this way any longer. The fifties were great, but great musicians changed the sound and feel of the rhythm section. And Pg Music should honor that. Examples are: Jarrett Trio, Joey Calderazzo, Geri Allen, Fred Hersch, Charles Lloyd. In the Modern Jazz Pianist series there is some great contemporary playing. If there were styles like that, that'd be great. If you hear software like iReal Pro it just gets on your nerve, the same outdated rhythms. Pg Music should bring modern jazz standard playing into our practice room. Odd times, relaxed comping, Dave Holland styles, Jason Moran, Adam Nussbaum, Joey Baron, McBride...
Last edited by Dzjang; 11/16/1612:36 AM.
Biab, Kontakt, Sampletank and lots of nice libraries, from Fluffy audio to Abbey Road drums. Check out these great contemporary Jazz Styles: www.jazzstylezz.com
This post request is probably better suited in the "Styles and RealTracks Wishlist" forum
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
Dear PG Music: Add all the new, modern styles you like to keep everyone happy; but, please, don’t substitute that for the older jazz styles. At least keep what we’ve already got.
Dear PG Music: Add all the new, modern styles you like to keep everyone happy; but, please, don’t substitute that for the older jazz styles. At least keep what we’ve already got.
Sigh... Earlier posts don't always seem to be noticed.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
Since we are staying here, let me just observe that I've often seen PG Music make minor fixes to RealTracks but never change the feel. I suspect they would continue to make new styles without changing existing ones.
And what is this 'nobody' reference? Not all of us have discarded these styles being mentioned. There's plenty of life left in the 'older' jazz styles as jazz evolves.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
Keeping the existing ones is important. You are right that there should be some preservation. Point is, if you dig into the realtracks bass, you notice there's not many different styles and same goes for midi supertracks. You would be amazed how many "different" styles use the same rhythm section. And, more importantly, not everyone wants to play in an older fashion. If Ellington were still alive, he'd play with Steve Coleman, I think.
Biab, Kontakt, Sampletank and lots of nice libraries, from Fluffy audio to Abbey Road drums. Check out these great contemporary Jazz Styles: www.jazzstylezz.com
Dear PG Music: Add all the new, modern styles you like to keep everyone happy; but, please, don’t substitute that for the older jazz styles. At least keep what we’ve already got.
Sigh... Earlier posts don't always seem to be noticed.
Originally Posted By: VideoTrack
Originally Posted By: J. Larry
Dear PG Music: Add all the new, modern styles you like to keep everyone happy; but, please, don’t substitute that for the older jazz styles. At least keep what we’ve already got.
Sigh... Earlier posts don't always seem to be noticed.
Well, if browsing were easier, we would all be on the same page. The forum is too complex. There should be tags or a tree structure, cause this way nobody finds anything. Think: biab style browser, but worse.
Biab, Kontakt, Sampletank and lots of nice libraries, from Fluffy audio to Abbey Road drums. Check out these great contemporary Jazz Styles: www.jazzstylezz.com
Well, if browsing were easier, we would all be on the same page. The forum is too complex. There should be tags or a tree structure, cause this way nobody finds anything.
Yep, that Styles and RealTracks Wishlist forum certainly is hard to find. Sure is buried deep...
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
No, I didn't mean that. You pointed me to the right forum, so I tried to delete my entry. But, since you answered, deleting was no longer an option. So, thanks for helping, but sadly it made matters worse,
Biab, Kontakt, Sampletank and lots of nice libraries, from Fluffy audio to Abbey Road drums. Check out these great contemporary Jazz Styles: www.jazzstylezz.com
I entirely agree that BIAB remains limited wrt modern jazz (meaning roughly the past couple of decades). But I don't think your post quite hits the nail on the head.
I think the key characteristic of a lot of modern jazz - the younger stars; the players you mention, 'different ride patterns' etc - is that it tends to be even, not swing, feel.
PG (along with all other music software companies) tends to regard 'jazz' as swing-feel. Check out 99% of jazz-drum midi packs, for example.
In BIAB, even-feel jazz is essentially limited to bossa & samba rhythms, plus the busy Terry Clarke even RDs, and funk Ricky Lawson.
In other words, I think the modern jazz we are interested in falls into a large Even-feel gap between bossa/samba jazz and the plethora of rock/funk even rhythms.
So, to conclude with a New Year wish: Piano MSTs; RT String Bass and RDs with an Even, not swing, jazz feel.
Excellent observation, Andy. That would dramatically change the feel. I'm not sure how much I would use an even feel jazz style, but it would be fun to experiment with even feel Latin percussion. My writing involves a lot of hybrid styles.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
<<I'm not sure how much I would use an even feel jazz style>>
Off the top of my head, check out any of the following (ordered by instrument.)
Brad Mehldau, Aaron Goldberg, Aaron Parks, Fred Hirsch, Jason Moran, Ethan Iverson Ambrose Akimmusire, Seamus Blake, Joshua Redman, Chris Cheek, Bill Stewart, Jeff Ballard, Jorge Rossy, Eric Harland, Brian Blade, Adam Nussbaum, Nasheet Waits, Jochen Rueckert Avishai Cohen, Larry Grenadier, Eric Penman, Eric Revis, Matt Brewer, Reuben Rogers Kurt Rosenwinkel, Mike Moreno, Lage Lund, Adam Rogers, Wolfgang Muthspiel Maria Schneider,
They're all in the tradition and love to play standards, but their own newer material tends to be even-feel, often with hits in odd places, 5's, 7's etc...
Thanks very much for these suggestions. I am very familiar with only a few on this list, particularly Joshua Redmond and Maria Schneider. Kurt Rosenwinkel is a monster. And I only have heard something from about half of those players, so thanks.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
Don't generalize many of us still play and love jazz with the swing feel and traditional Duke Ellington Ella Fitzgerald Joe Pass Barney Kessel, Wes Montgomery. Etc Etc,
If you like what you call also called more modern style of jazz which I understand some people play. Although most of them I've heard our technical monsters but lack the swing feel and the emphasis on Melody.
This is of course my opinion and the way I feel about it just like you stated your opinion but to make a statement like you did that nobody plays jazz like this anymore is absolutely ridiculous!
One other thing, is while Band In A box is an excellent Learning resource you should transcribe your favorite players anyway and not depend on a software program to improve your musicianship............
Sure, the OP exaggerated but there is a valid point in there. We all know jazz players who favor, or might be stuck in, each era. Tons of 20s, 30s, 50s, 70s jazz is still played out there and if the player is good, the music's good. There is plenty of room to add styles for newer trends. All the existing RealTracks will still be there. By the way, I'm hearing some pretty hip playing in some of the new 2017 styles.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
Agree, what about support for 5/8 7/8 13/8 etc - at the moment (BIAB 2016) we have to do 5/8 as 3/4 + 2/4 which doesn't sound quite right and also doubles the amount of bars in the piece and then we run into the 255 bar limit. At least there is now (2017) proper support for 3/4 and cut time and double time, (yay!) but it doesn't really help us odd people who are into odd time signatures or eastern european folk music etc. HAS the 255 BAR LIMIT been lifted in 2017. please someone say yes! I don't have 2017 yet and can't find any info on the pg site on my aforementioned dilemma but can anyone tell me if for example doing a (4+3)/4 in double tempo with cut time (in BIAB 2017) will give me a reasonable 7/8? and does anyone know when the pdf manual is coming out? cheers!
Last edited by oddworld; 12/08/1604:42 PM.
guitarist artist producer videographer film scorer and writer PC + Sibelius, Logic, Cubase, BIAB, but my preferred technology is instrument plus mic - also pen and paper.
Welcome to the forum. That's a mouthful for a first post.
The PDF full manual usually takes a bit after a new release.
As far as I know, the 255 bar limit is still there. There was no discussion, but I didn't test it because I just don't hit the limit. I do realize doing double measures to simulate 5/4, for example, will run up the count quickly.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
XPro & Xtra Styles PAK Sets On Sale Now - Until May 15, 2026!
All of our XPro Styles PAKs and Xtra Styles PAKs are on sale until May 15th, 2026!
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With the release of Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac, we’re rolling out a collection of brand-new videos on our YouTube channel. We’ll keep this forum post updated so you can easily find all the latest videos in one convenient spot.
Whether you're exploring new features, checking out the latest RealTracks or Style PAKs, this is your go-to guide for Band-in-a-Box® 2026.
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac is here and it is packed with major new features! There’s a new modern look, a GUI redesign to all areas of the program including toolbars, windows, workflow and more. There’s a Multi-view layout for organizing multiple windows. A standout addition is the powerful AI-Notes feature, which uses AI neural-net technology to transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI—entire mixes or individual instruments—making it easy to study, view, and play parts from any song. And that’s just the beginning—there are over 100 new features in this exciting release.
Along with version 2026, we've released an incredible lineup of new content! There's 202 new RealTracks, brand-new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two new RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!
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Our Free Bonus PAK and 49-PAK are loaded with amazing add-ons! The Free Bonus PAK is included with most Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac packages, but you can unlock even more—including 20 unreleased RealTracks—by upgrading to the 2026 49-PAK for just $49.
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® users: Build 904 now available!
If you're already using Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®, make sure to grab the latest update! Build 904 is now available for download and includes the newest additions and enhancements from our team.
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